A Marauder Promise
by msllamalover
Summary: Just before leaving Hogwarts, the Marauders make a promise to return fifteen years in the future. When the time comes, Remus is the only one there. Or is he?


_Disclaimer - Not mine, of course!_

_A/N - Set in October of Harry's third year, Remus is a teacher, Peter is still Scabbers, Sirius is at Hogwarts as Snuffles, and James is, unfortunately, still dead. Just thought you'd like to know the background._

* * *

The wind was whipping through the trees, the branches barely scratched the stormy sky. The crescent moon broke through the grey clouds, setting the murky lake alight slightly.

The man stood, alone, looking out over the lake, watching the shadow of the Whomping Willow dancing violently with the inky waters. His shoulders were hunched and his face forlorn, but his shoulders were not shaking and his eyes were not crying. He was deep in thought, barely noticing as cold rain began to fall in sharp sheets, the wetness attacking him.

"You bastards," he murmured sadly. "You promised me you'd be here. You promised." A lone tear rolled down his cheek now, as he thought about events which had occurred fifteen years previously.

_

* * *

_

It's mid afternoon by the time the inhabitants of the Boys seventh year Gryffindor dormitory are just beginning to get ready for the day. The sun is streaming through the open window. Remus Lupin rises from his bed, and is surprised to see his friends, the enigmatic Sirius Black, lively James Potter and the peculiar Peter Pettigrew sitting in their pyjamas on Peters bed, playing Exploding Snap.

_Seeing him awaken, Sirius jumps up from the bed, and, removes the silencing charm on his bed. "Moony, my friend, how absolutely spiffing to see you so early this afternoon!" He grins, bowing a low, sweeping bow._

"_Indeed, Mr. Moony, how charming it is you've decided to join us!" James gets up, too, leaning on Sirius._

"_Yes, morning Remus." Peter chips in, clearly still too tired to make any intelligent contribution. _

"_Why in the name of Merlin's pants did you let me sleep so late? We've missed breakfast, lunch and lessons!" Remus snaps back, bewildered, before remembering their NEWT's finished yesterday, leaving them free from lessons for the rest of the year._

_His face breaks out into a bright grin, mirroring the ones on his friends faces, as he springs up from his bed. His friends jump on him, celebrating the end of their exams. _

_They have been together for seven years. The Marauders. They were friends, true friends, that's what people said. But they were more than that. They were family. They accepted and appreciated, trusted and loved, laughed and joked. _

"_Promise me, Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail, that you wont leave me?" Moony asks, trying to appear confident, but slight anxiety breaks through in his voice. Immediately, James and Sirius are standing by his side, and Peter is scrambling to get free of his bed covers to join them. _

"_Of course we promise, Moony, we're the Marauders!" James says, reassuringly. _

"_Yes, Mr Moony, the Marauders are my family, I'm not letting go of another bloody family!" Sirius says with a smile, which is barely covering the sad edge in his voice._

"_I know!" Peter says excitedly. "Lets agree to meet back up here, at Hogwarts, fifteen years in the future, just to prove that we'll still be friends!"_

"_Actually, Wormtail, that's not such a bad idea!" Sirius says, grinning. _

"_Mr Padfoot solemnly swears that he will be here, by the lake, on October 13th, fifteen years into the future."_

"_Mr Prongs solemnly swears the same thing."_

"_So do I! I mean, Mr Wormtail solemnly swears he will be here!" _

"_Mr Moony solemnly swears that he'll be there, no matter what!"_

* * *

He gave a brief smile at the memory, shaking his head slightly at the naivety of their childhood promise. Nevertheless, he's there. Just like he promised. He knew it was pointless, waiting for them. He already knew they weren't coming. Two of them were dead, and one was on the run from Azkaban. He wasn't overly important to any of them right now.

Strange, he thought, how life turns out. He smiled bitterly. Strange, how no one really keeps their promises. Not even friends. Not even family.

Hearing a noise in the sodden grass behind him, he turned, his hand gripping is wand. He couldn't see far in front of him, the rain made sure of that. A strange silvery glow emerged from the bleak greyness. Two patronus' slowly became visible. A large, shaggy dog ran close to him, quickly followed by a round, scurrying rat. Both were barely there, they seemed to be nothing more than glowing mist, rather than real patronus', but they were there. He could see them both, clear as day, hovering above the ground.

"S-Sirius? Peter?" He called out. He had not expected an answer, and he did not receive one. His mind urged him to move closer, but he did not. He didn't know why he couldn't seem to move nearer to them. Maybe he was scared they'd disappear. Maybe he was just satisfied with looking, and remembering. Maybe it was just the cold weather that had frozen him to the spot where he stood.

He didn't know how much longer he stood, looking at them. It could have been minutes, or hours. He didn't really care any longer. Somehow, they were there, his friends were there, and that's all that mattered.

The trees shook violently, before standing deathly still. He lifted his head towards the tree tops. In that second, he could swear that he heard the echo of a familiar, long lost laugh, ringing through the branches. Then, just as quickly as it had dropped, the vicious wind returned, and the laughter stopped.

"James?" He called to the sky. But the laughter was long silenced, and the patronus', too, were gone.

"I KEPT MY PROMISE!" He shouted to the sky, believing somehow that his fellow Marauders could still hear him. The rain just fell harder.

"I kept my promise." He said again, weaker than before. He received no reply, but he knew, in his heart, that somehow his friends had kept their promises too.

"Thank you," he barely managed to whisper, "thank you."

Remus Lupin collapsed to the ground, sobbing, all alone in the bitter October weather.


End file.
